By Xander Landen
VtDigger
Attorney General TJ Donovan voiced support Thursday for legislation that would establish a regulated market for cannabis in Vermont, after he had previously expressed reservations about legalizing sales of the substance.
Donovan told the Senate Judiciary Committee that since Vermont moved to legalize limited possession and cultivation of the drug last year, his views on creating a market for the drug had “evolved.”
“We have to have a regulated market,” he said. “I don’t think we can continue to be silent on how Vermonters obtain it. At the end of the day, this is about protecting consumers and protecting kids.”
Donovan said he has continued concerns about cannabis “gifting,” a practice that emerged after Vermont legalized possession in July.
Exploiting the new legalization law that allows individuals to give each other up to an ounce of cannabis, businesses, and individuals began giving marijuana to consumers while charging them inflated fees for related products or services.
Donovan also referenced a Burlington business that had allegedly been selling cannabis over the counter. After Seven Days reported that a Church Street business, Good Times Gallery, was allegedly selling the drug to customers, authorities raided the store and arrested its owner Tuesday.
“We’ve seen that you can’t tell Vermonters that they can possess marijuana and be silent on how you obtain it because the black market exists and capitalism is only going to grow in this area,” Donovan said.
Donovan’s support for a cannabis market comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee is poised to pass a tax and regulate bill that would pave the way for dispensaries, and a 10 percent tax rate on the substance.
The legislation is expected to sail through the Senate, but will likely face resistance in the House and the governor’s office. Donovan backed the Senate bill Thursday without offering any suggested changes.
Gov. Phil Scott has said he would not support a legal market for cannabis sales unless lawmakers provided additional funding for drug prevention and roadside safety initiatives.
His administration has advocated in particular for legislators to legalize roadside saliva testing, to give law enforcement officers an additional tool to test drivers for impairment.
The saliva test, however, has come under criticism from civil rights organizations and many legislators because while it can test for the presence of cannabis in someone’s system, it cannot determine impairment at the time it is taken.
Sen. Dick Sears, the chair of the Judiciary Committee, has said he does not plan to include roadside testing in the tax and regulate bill. But he said Thursday that the Senate Transportation committee may be introducing saliva testing in a separate piece of legislation.
Donovan said he would support the tax and regulate measure even if it didn’t include saliva testing.
“I think we have to have a test that works and the saliva test may be what’s best right now, but it doesn’t necessarily test impairment — it tests presence,” he said after Thursday’s hearing.
“As a prosecutor the issue is impairment, not presence. And I think that has to be further discussed.”